August is National Black Business Month.
It started in 2004, founded by historian John William Templeton and engineer Frederick E. Jordan Sr. to highlight the contributions of Black entrepreneurs to the American economy. Over two decades later, it is more relevant than ever.
Black-owned businesses represent about 3% of U.S. employer businesses but have been growing at twice the rate of all businesses. Despite facing disproportionate barriers to funding, resources, and opportunity, Black entrepreneurs keep building.
This month is about recognition. But recognition without action is just noise. Here is what National Black Business Month actually means and how to make support count.
The Businesses Building Something Real
The best way to celebrate Black Business Month is to know the businesses worth celebrating. These are not hypothetical success stories. They are real brands, building real products, solving real problems.
Food & Beverage
BLK & Bold Coffee
Pernell Cezar and Rod Johnson founded BLK & Bold in 2018 with a simple idea: specialty coffee that gives back. The Des Moines-based company donates 5% of profits to programs supporting youth in need, including workforce development and fighting youth homelessness.
You can find BLK & Bold in Target, Whole Foods, and Amazon. They have grown from a local roaster to a nationally distributed brand without compromising their mission.
Capital City Wing Sauce
If you have spent any time in Washington, D.C., you know mambo sauce. It is the tangy, sweet, slightly spicy condiment that goes on everything from wings to fries to carryout boxes across the city.
Capital City created a bottled version that brought D.C.’s signature flavor nationwide. Founded by Arsha Jones and Charles Jones, the sauce is now available at Whole Foods, Wegmans, and other major retailers. They turned a regional staple into a national brand while keeping the recipe authentic.
Partake Foods
Denise Woodard started Partake Foods after her daughter was diagnosed with multiple food allergies. She could not find allergy-friendly snacks that actually tasted good, so she made them.
Partake cookies are free of the top nine allergens and available in major retailers nationwide, including Target, Whole Foods, and Sprouts. Woodard has raised over $20 million in funding, one of the few Black women founders to do so.
Health & Beauty
Black Girl Sunscreen
Shontay Lundy founded Black Girl Sunscreen after years of frustration with sunscreens that left a white, chalky residue on melanin-rich skin. Traditional sunscreen formulas were not designed with darker skin tones in mind. She fixed that.
Black Girl Sunscreen absorbs without the white cast and moisturizes while protecting. It is now available at Target, Ulta, and Walmart. The brand has expanded to include products for kids and daily moisturizers with SPF.
Black Girl Vitamins
Maxine and Tiffany founded Black Girl Vitamins to address the specific health needs of Black women that mainstream supplement brands overlook.
Their products target concerns like vitamin D deficiency (more common in darker skin tones), hair and skin health, and stress management. Everything is vegan and formulated with Black women’s health research in mind. It is wellness designed for the people actually using it.
Camille Rose Naturals
Janell Stephens started Camille Rose Naturals in her kitchen, mixing natural hair care products for her daughters. What began as a family project became one of the most recognized natural hair care brands in the industry.
The line includes products for every curl type and hair need, made with natural ingredients like honey, aloe, and coconut. Available at Target, Walmart, Sally Beauty, and Ulta, Camille Rose has become a staple in the natural hair community.
The Lip Bar
Melissa Butler started The Lip Bar in her kitchen in 2012. After facing rejection from every investor on Shark Tank in 2015, she refused to stop and kept building anyway.
Today, The Lip Bar is in over 2,000 retail locations including Target, Walmart, and CVS. The brand focuses on inclusive, vegan, cruelty-free beauty products at accessible price points. Butler built a beauty empire by ignoring the people who said no.
Uoma Beauty and Pull Up For Change
Sharon Chuter founded Uoma Beauty in 2019 with 51 foundation shades designed to match Black and brown skin tones. When the murder of George Floyd sparked conversations about corporate accountability, she created Pull Up For Change, challenging beauty brands to disclose their diversity numbers.
The campaign held companies accountable in ways that press releases and social media statements never could.
Golde
Trinity Mouzon Wofford co-founded Golde at 23 with her partner Issey Kobori. The superfood and skincare brand started in a Brooklyn apartment with $2,000 and grew into a wellness company stocked at Target, Sephora, and Urban Outfitters.
Golde focuses on accessible wellness with clean ingredients, built without the luxury price tag. Wofford has been vocal about building a business that looks like the diverse customer base it serves.
Home & Lifestyle
Jungalow
Designer Justina Blakeney built Jungalow into a home decor brand that celebrates bold color, global patterns, and plant-filled spaces.
What started as a design blog became a full lifestyle brand with products at Target, furniture collaborations, and a best-selling book. Jungalow’s aesthetic is unmistakable: maximalist, joyful, and deeply personal.
McBride Sisters Collection
Robin and Andréa McBride did not know each other existed until they were adults. Different mothers, same father, raised on different continents. When they finally connected, they discovered a shared passion for wine.
McBride Sisters Collection is now the largest Black-owned wine company in the United States. Their wines are available at major retailers, and they have launched programs to support diversity in the wine industry, including scholarships for aspiring Black sommeliers and winemakers.
Apparel & Heritage
Black & Scholared
Kamirria Wallace founded Black & Scholared to celebrate Black education, HBCUs, and academic excellence through licensed collegiate apparel and accessories.
It is more than clothing: it is a statement that Black academic achievement deserves recognition and celebration. The brand has been featured in major publications and worn by educators, students, and alumni nationwide.
Triple Nickel
Founded by Army veteran Marcus O. Chapman, Triple Nickel pays homage to the legendary 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion—the U.S. military’s first all-Black airborne unit.
The brand creates high-quality apparel and gear that honors historical military excellence and legacy, blending style with a deep educational mission.
TORCH Warriorwear
Founded by Air Force veteran and entrepreneur Haley McClain Hill, TORCH Warriorwear is a direct-to-consumer apparel brand designed specifically for women warriors in the military, law enforcement, and first-responder fields.
After experiencing the lack of functional, well-fitting uniform undergarments during active duty, McClain Hill launched functional bodysuits crafted for comfort, performance, and confidence. The Shark Tank-backed brand empowers women serving on the front lines worldwide.
Why Support Matters (and What It Actually Looks Like)
Awareness campaigns and hashtags are fine, but Black-owned businesses run on revenue. Here is how to offer meaningful support:
Buy the products: Swap one routine purchase for a Black-owned alternative. Need coffee? Try BLK & Bold. Grilling? Pick up Capital City Wing Sauce. Looking for residue-free sunscreen? Black Girl Sunscreen.
Leave reviews: Customer reviews directly impact search visibility and sales conversions. A detailed, positive review costs nothing and takes two minutes.
Share with your network: Word of mouth drives momentum. Recommend products you love, tag the brands, and share their content.
Pay on time: If you work with Black-owned vendors or contractors, process invoices promptly. Reliable cash flow keeps small businesses thriving.
Hire and contract: When sourcing agencies, freelancers, photographers, or web developers, intentionally include Black-owned service providers in your search.
Show up year-round: Make supporting Black entrepreneurs a routine habit every month of the year, not just in August.
The Funding Gap Is Real
Black entrepreneurs face well-documented barriers to capital. Studies consistently show that Black founders receive less than 2% of venture capital funding. Loan approval rates are lower and interest rates are often higher.
When a Black-owned business succeeds, it often means they worked harder with fewer resources against longer odds. The brands highlighted here compete on product quality alone, but the context matters.
Organizations working to bridge this gap include:
Black Girl Ventures: Provides access to capital and community through pitch competitions for Black and brown women founders.
Founders First Capital Partners: Offers revenue-based financing and advisory support to underrepresented business owners.
The 15 Percent Pledge: Advocates for major retailers to dedicate 15% of shelf space to Black-owned brands, reflecting the Black population in the U.S.
Greenwood: A digital banking platform designed specifically for Black and Latino individuals and business owners.
What We’ve Seen Working With Small Businesses
At YellowWebMonkey, we have been building websites for small businesses since 2009. We have worked with veteran-owned, women-owned, family-run, and first-generation businesses of all backgrounds.
The common thread across all successful enterprises is determination. People who see a problem, build a solution, and refuse to quit when things get difficult.
The founders highlighted here share that exact persistence. Melissa Butler turned early rejection into a nationwide retail footprint. Denise Woodard created an allergy-friendly food brand from scratch for her child. Shontay Lundy developed the sunscreen the industry failed to provide. Haley McClain Hill built performance wear to empower women in service. Robin and Andréa McBride built a wine empire after meeting as adults.
These are years of work, setbacks, pivots, and follow-through. That is what real entrepreneurship looks like, and that is what deserves lasting support.
Make It Count
National Black Business Month is a reminder to pay attention, learn names, and put dollars behind values. August 31st is not a finish line. Support that matters is support that lasts.
Find a Black-owned business you believe in, try their products, recommend them to someone else, and return next month to do it again.
Further Reading & Resources
BuzzFeed: Shark Tank Products From Black-Owned Businesses
The Root: Black Entrepreneurs Who Became Successful After Competing on Shark Tank
Know a Black-owned business that deserves a better website? Send them our way.
